According to a story by Associated Press, and the Washington Post, officials in 49 states have launched a joint investigation into allegations that mortgage companies mishandled documents and broke laws in foreclosing on hundreds of thousands of homeowners.

The attorneys general of every U.S. state  announced Wednesday that they are joining together to probe mortgage loan servicers who are accused of submitting false affidavits, but stopped short of calling for a national moratorium.

Four large lenders — Ally Financial Inc.’s GMAC Mortgage Unit, Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase already have halted questionable foreclosures after evidence emerged that bank employees processed thousands of foreclosure documents without reading them. Other banks, including Citigroup, Inc. and Wells Fargo and Co. have not stopped processing foreclosures, saying they did nothing wrong.

In a joint statement issued by the National Association of Attorneys General, the officials said they would look into evidence that legal documents were signed by mortgage company employees who “did not have personal knowledge of the facts asserted in the documents.” They also said that many of those documents appear to have been signed without a notary public witnessing that signature, a violation of most state laws.  Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler is the Vice President of the Association.